TRANSVE

RANSVESTIA

all terraces and steps. Those old boys must have had some legs and lungs since the place is at 9,000-foot altitude and stones are not light. They had to be carried by human power since although they had lamas and alpacas they couldn't have been of much use in climb- ing steps and terraces. Then it was back to the buses, back down the hill to the train and back down the switch backs into Cusco.

This was Christmas Eve and the Lima Tours guide who met me at the railroad station was very persuasive in trying to get me to join him at a party and have some Pisco punch, the national drink. As a non-drinker, I could imagine what would have happened to me if I'd been induced to drink a couple of those. He was very insistent that as a single lady I should join him and celebrate-"After all, it is Christ- mas Eve, come on, Virginia." But I protested that I was pretty tired after the trip to Manchi Picchu and I had to get up early tomorrow to catch the flight back to Lima, etc. Finally he gave up but he made a manful try for a pickup. No way was I going to take off to a party in a strange town in a land where I didn't speak the language, with a strange man. Wonder where I get that fatal attraction? Oh well, when you've got it, why fight it!

Before leaving for Cusco I had noticed that my itinerary called for me to return to Lima on Christmas Day and wait around till the next day before flying home. Having been in Lima already for a couple of days I couldn't see just sitting around a hotel on Christmas Day when everything was closed up. So I had gone to Avianca the Columbian airline to find out what flights out of Lima were available. Finally I decided to fly to Bogota, Columbia for a day and then home. So the day I left Cusco I flew back to Lima airport and sat around for three hours for the plane to Bogota.

I arrived in Bogota about 2:30 on Christmas Day. The money changing place in the arrival lounge was closed, so having no Colum- bian pesos I left my bag in the baggage arrival place and went through customs and out into the main concourse to the Avianca desk. I had been told both by the Lima office and the Avianca office at the Lima airport that they would make a hotel reservation for me. They didn't. Finally I bullied my way into the Avianca supervisor's office at the Bogota airport and found somebody who "comprende Englais." They could find no record of a reservation so they were kind enough to call up and make one for me. But they couldn't change a traveler's check. Neither could anyone else in the whole damn

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